Two Chicago-area activists are hoping their call for 24 hours of peace goes viral

Since 18-year-old Maddi Jane first performed on “Ellen” at age 11 in 2010, the singer has generated a loyal fanbase on social media. Jasmine Babers, too, has worked to get her voice, and the voice of other young women, heard with the girls' empowerment magazine she founded as a teen that last year earned the University of Illinois at Chicago junior the Peace First Prize. This week, both Chicago-area women are aiming to put their notable influence to good use as they join the UN to promote 24 hours of peace.

Jane, who lives in west suburban Wheaton, says representatives of the UN reached out to her in August to enlist her help—and the help of her 1.4 million YouTube followers—in getting their International Day of Peace message out in the Chicago area. She and Babers were among several “influencers” who UN Assistant Secretary-General Ray Chambers tapped for the job in six major cities across the country. The pair launched a Change.org petition for people to pledge 24 hours of non-violence on Wednesday and posted a video encouraging Chicagoans to share images of peace signs they’ve drawn on their hands on social media with the hashtags #HugForPeace, #PeaceDayChallenge and #WagePeace.

Jane, who spent last weekend in New York taking part in the annual Ringing of the Peace Bell at the UN headquarters with activists and celebrities such as Jane Goodall and Leonardo DiCaprio, says she hopes spreading awareness will get people talking about ways to stop violence and conflict, especially in a place like Chicago where it’s such a rampant issue.

“We’re calling to counteract that violence with kindness and going out of your way to do something, whether it’s buying coffee for the person behind you in line at Starbucks or being nice to your siblings or co-workers,” Jane said. “[We’re asking people to] overlook any offenses that might come to you [on Wednesday], and the idea is that if we can do it for 24 hours, maybe we’ll all be inspired to do it beyond that.”

Of course, the effort is just a supplement to the important work so many Chicago groups already do to denounce violence, Babers says, but their hope is to remind people that every little bit helps.

“A lot of people don’t know violence can take a lot of different forms, so just putting that out there and letting people know that the smallest things can really make a difference—a smile, holding the door open for somebody, anything that puts a little more peace in the world,” Babers said. “Chicago gets such a bad rep for being violent, and there are a ton of great programs out there working toward a solution and I just want people to recognize that.”